Tuesday, July 28, 2009

[Indian secularism - Place of religion in human life - The Statesman S K Chaube, 21 January 1997In the great debate on secularism in India a number of cultivated myths abound even among well intentioned people bearing no malice against other communities. "Indian society is secular", "Hindu society is secular", "The Indian Constitution is secular" and "The Indian State is secular" are some of them.The myths are raised to a theoretical plane by asserting that "Our secularism is different from secularism in the West". From this absurdity one moves to the confusing array of "our definitions" of secularism and exchange of abuses like communalism and pseudo-secularism...Secularism is thus a political doctrine and not a social one. It cannot be counterposed against communalism as communalism is a social doctrine. It is not true that a communally tolerant population is automatically secular... S.K. Chaube is Professor of Indian Politics in the Department of Political Science, University of Delhi. 8:12 PM]

The Mother & Sri Aurobindo expressly refused to be affiliated to any of the past religions and Savitri Era Religion emerged by default. The Sanatan Dharma/Perennial philosophy line of argument, therefore, is alien to a 21st century faith like Savitri Era Religion.

Body and biology being intrinsic part and determinant of man’s religious behavior, it is futile to expect brand new rites and rituals. Savitri Era Religion has internalized a set of rituals over the years which will obviously evolve and refine with time.

The spiritual school promoted by secularists, rationalists, and nihilists privileging meditational practices is basically a recoil from form. The aesthetics of body, though overemphasized in the arena of sport and art, remains underappreciated in the realm of offering prayers or flowers either singly or collectively.

Man is too puny to make sense of his place in the Cosmic merry-go-round and The Mother, therefore, has given us a simple formula: Remember and Offer. Realist philosophies, however, are yet to problemitize this crucial conundrum of consciousness: Who remembers and why. [TNM]